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/ Thom Bell

February 7, 2025 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Quadio Batch 7

This morning, Rhino unveiled its first batch of Quadio titles for 2025 - and this time, the emphasis is on classic soul and R&B with a twist of jazz!  The series, reissuing vintage quadraphonic (four-channel) surround mixes on Blu-ray Audio Discs, welcomes Aretha Franklin's Live at Fillmore West (1971), Curtis Mayfield's Roots (1971), The Spinners' Pick of the Litter (1975), and Billy Cobham's Spectrum (1973). The Queen of Soul's Live at Fillmore West followed 1970's Spirit in the Dark in

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Categories: News Formats: Blu-Ray Audio Genre: Jazz, R&B/Soul Tags: Aretha Franklin, Billy Cobham, Curtis Mayfield, The Spinners, Thom Bell

October 9, 2024 By Joe Marchese 3 Comments

John Barry Something's Up

Today, we're rounding up five releases from Ace Records, all of which were released within the past few months by the U.K. label. Ace has followed up its 2022 collection dedicated to the oeuvre of composer John Barry, The More Things Change: Film TV, and Studio Work 1968-1972, with a new volume of the film maestro's works.  Something's Up!  Film, TV, and Studio Work 1964-1967 (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) hardly plays like a collection of runners-up, however.  Barry crafted so

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Soundtracks Tags: Holland-Dozier-Holland, Jackie DeShannon, John Barry, Paul Williams, Roger Nichols, Thom Bell, Various Artists

April 15, 2024 By Joe Marchese 4 Comments

Earl Young Groove Machine

Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell might have been The Mighty Three, but dozens of musicians joined them in shaping The Sound of Philadelphia.  That triumvirate's lush, lithe productions were brought to life by the loose aggregation of players known as MFSB, or the house band at Sigma Sound Studios.  These are the same musicians who went on to form The Salsoul Orchestra under the baton of Vincent Montana, Jr., including Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, Bobby Eli, Ron Kersey, Lenny Pakula,

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Archie Bell and the Drells, B.B. King, Double Exposure, Dusty Springfield, Earl Young, Eddie Holman, Gamble and Huff, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Loleatta Holloway, New York City, The Delfonics, The O'Jays, The Spinners, Thom Bell, William DeVaughn

September 26, 2023 By The Second Disc 17 Comments

Spinners Ain't No Price on Happiness

2023 has shaped up to be a banner year for The Spinners.  The famed vocal quintet, now in their eighth decade, will be inducted on November 3 into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside the illustrious likes of Willie Nelson, Kate Bush, and George Michael.  Earlier this year, Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music celebrated the group's extraordinary legacy with the release of The Complete Atlantic Singles: The Thom Bell Productions 1972-1979, collecting a whopping 43 single sides on two

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Dionne Warwick, The Spinners, Thom Bell

August 5, 2023 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

Stream 2023

Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to float you into the weekend. From New Age to New Wave to creepy sound effects, children of famous songwriters and a whole lot more, there's a lot to enjoy. ABC, The Lexicon of Love (Steven Wilson Stereo and Instrumental Remixes) (Mercury/UMC) (iTunes / Amazon) The 40th anniversary vinyl box of The Lexicon of Love is finally

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Categories: The Weekend Stream Formats: Digital Download, Digital Streaming Genre: Disco/Dance, Electronic, Everything Else, Jazz, Pop, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: ABC, Anthony Newley, Chuck Mangione, De La Soul, John Powell, John Williams, Liz Story, Pulp, Thom Bell

August 3, 2023 By The Second Disc 15 Comments

Spinners Complete Atlantic Singles

Could it be you're falling in love? Tomorrow, just three months before their long-awaited induction into the 2023 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the world-renowned Spinners will be celebrated by Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records with The Complete Atlantic Singles: The Thom Bell Productions 1972-1979. This definitive 2-CD anthology presents every one of the quintet's beloved A- and B-sides helmed by Thom Bell on Atlantic Records during that halcyon period-with each and every

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: The Spinners, Thom Bell

June 12, 2023 By The Second Disc 20 Comments

Spinners Complete Atlantic Singles

Could it be you're falling in love? On August 4, just three months before their long-awaited induction into the 2023 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the world-renowned Spinners will be celebrated by Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records with The Complete Atlantic Singles: The Thom Bell Productions 1972-1979. This definitive 2-CD anthology presents every one of the quintet's beloved A- and B-sides helmed by Thom Bell on Atlantic Records during that halcyon period-with each and every

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Dionne Warwick, The Spinners, Thom Bell

February 16, 2023 By The Second Disc 6 Comments

Dionne Warwick Sure Thing Box

Between 1962 and 1971, Dionne Warwick put New York's Scepter Records on the map with over fifteen original albums and forty chart hits, more than twenty of which reached the top 40.  Seven hit the top ten.  Dionne earned her first two Grammy Awards during this period for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" - just two of the timeless songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David which she brought to stunning life. (Those hits can soon be heard on an upcoming collection,

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Jerry Ragovoy, Thom Bell

December 23, 2022 By Joe Marchese 15 Comments

Thom Bell

Yesterday, Philadelphia soul architect Thom Bell passed away at the age of 79, leaving an extraordinary legacy of music for such artists as The Delfonics, The Stylistics, The Spinners, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Deniece Williams, and Elton John among his greatest and most enduring accomplishments.  TSD's Joe Marchese got to know Thom in the last few years of his life, and shares his memories of, and an interview with, the legendary producer and songwriter. "Hello?" I picked up the

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Categories: News Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Thom Bell

December 5, 2022 By The Second Disc 19 Comments

Dionne Warwick Sure Thing Box

Between 1962 and 1971, Dionne Warwick put New York's Scepter Records on the map with over fifteen original albums and forty chart hits, more than twenty of which reached the top 40.  Seven hit the top ten.  Dionne earned her first two Grammy Awards during this period for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" - just two of the timeless songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David which she brought to stunning life.  In 1971, though, Warwick made the move to Burbank,

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Jerry Ragovoy, Thom Bell

March 7, 2022 By Joe Marchese 10 Comments

VMP Philadelphia Intl Anthology

The legacy of Philadelphia International Records is as mighty as the famous three men most associated with the label: co-founders and songwriter-producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff and songwriter-producer-conductor-arranger Thom Bell.  The three men didn't do it alone, though; the PIR story involves the dozens of talented artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, and arrangers who passed through the doors of engineer Joe Tarsia's Sigma Sound Studios on North 12th Street in Philadelphia,

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Billy Paul, Dexter Wansel, Gamble and Huff, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Leon Huff, Lou Rawls, MFSB, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, Thom Bell

August 10, 2021 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

Phyllis Hyman Old Friend

UPDATED AUGUST 2021: "Phyllis sat right in my class.  I can still see the pigtails."  In a 2016 interview with The Second Disc, Thom Bell shared his earliest memories of the late Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995).  The songwriter-arranger-conductor-producer would cross paths numerous times over the years with his childhood friend: first via Phyllis' hit recordings of his "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "Loving You - Losing You," and later, his own productions and songs for her.  "She was a lonely individual,"

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Barry Manilow, Norman Connors, Phyllis Hyman, Thom Bell

June 25, 2021 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Deniece Williams Free Box

Let's hear it for Deniece Williams.  Since making her first big splash 45 years ago with debut album This is Niecy, the daughter of Gary, Indiana has scored 27 Billboard R&B hits and 14 Pop successes including two crossover Number Ones, won four Grammy Awards (and amassed another nine nominations), and recorded over fifteen albums blurring the lines between soul, pop, and gospel.  Between 1976 and 1988, Williams made Columbia Records her home, both with Maurice White's ARC imprint and with

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Deniece Williams, George Duke, Johnny Mathis, Maurice White, Thom Bell

May 25, 2021 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Best of Philadelphia International

The Philadelphia International Records 50th anniversary campaign kicks off this Friday, May 25, with the release of Get on Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 from the U.K. Snapper Music label's United Souls imprint.  The 8-CD hardcover book-style box presents the first eight albums released on PIR, and the series will eventually encompass every one of PIR's LPs on CD. On the domestic front, Legacy Recordings issues its first anniversary release this

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Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Billy Paul, Gamble and Huff, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass, The Intruders, The O'Jays, Thom Bell

March 8, 2021 By Joe Marchese 14 Comments

Get On Board the Soul Train

Back in late January, we shared news of Philadelphia International Records' 50th anniversary plans.  The centerpiece of the campaign announced by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings was a series of CD box sets presenting every PIR album in chronological order.  Now, the first of those box sets is available for pre-order with a release date of May 28. Get On Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 is a product of the U.K.-based United Souls, an imprint of

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Billy Paul, Dick Jensen, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, MFSB, The Intruders, The O'Jays, Thom Bell

January 25, 2021 By Joe Marchese 15 Comments

PIR50 1 logo

Fifty years ago, the release of Billy Paul's Going East on LP and The Ebonys' "You're the Reason Why" on a 45 RPM single marked the birth of Philadelphia International Records.  By 1971, co-founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff had already garnered significant chart success with their songs and productions for such artists as The Soul Survivors ("Expressway to Your Heart"), The Intruders ("Cowboys to Girls"), Archie Bell and the Drells ("(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown"), Lesley Gore, Dusty

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Thom Bell

October 12, 2020 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

New York City Im Doin Fine Now

Doo-wop veterans John Brown, Tim McQueen, Edward Schell, and Claude Johnson came together as New York City, hoping that the name of their new vocal quartet would reflect the melting pot that inspired it.  "We feel personally that a group should be able to sing anything from the lowest, dirtiest blues," Brown wrote in the sleevenotes of New York City's 1973 debut LP, "through spirituals, right up through pop to the heaviest kind of music."  I'm Doin' Fine Now, originally issued on Chelsea Records

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Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: New York City, Thom Bell

June 26, 2020 By The Second Disc 4 Comments

Johnny Cash Complete Mercury Albums

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Johnny Cash, The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 (Mercury/UMe) 7CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 7LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Complete Mercury Recordings 1986-1991 will be available on 7CD or 7LP, 180-gram vinyl formats. The box collects all six albums Johnny Cash recorded for Mercury Records during that era: Class Of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming with Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Carl

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Alan Silvestri, Alanis Morissette, America, B.B. King, Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Eugene McDaniels, Fanny, Flo and Eddie, Frank Zappa, George Formby, Gerry Beckley, Johnny Cash, Judy Garland, Kleeer, The Rolling Stones, The Staple Singers, The Turtles, Them, Thom Bell

May 7, 2020 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

Thom Bell Ready or Not

After having previously celebrated two of his musical inspirations - Burt Bacharach and Teddy Randazzo - with their own volumes, Ace's Songwriters and Producers series is turning its attention to legendary soul maestro Thom Bell. On June 26, the label's Kent imprint will release Ready or Not: Philly Soul Arrangements and Productions 1965-1978. As the title indicates, all 23 tracks were either produced or arranged (or both!) by the multi-hyphenate musician-composer-producer-arranger-conductor who

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Connie Stevens, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Jerry Butler, Johnny Mathis, Lesley Gore, The O'Jays, The Spinners, The Stylistics, Thom Bell, Various Artists

April 8, 2020 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Dee Dee Bridgewater

Dee Dee Bridgewater has long defied easy categorization. The Grammy and Tony Award-winning singer-actress has fronted a jazz orchestra; worked with legends of the genre like Thad Jones, Dexter Gordon, and Max Roach; starred in two Broadway musicals; hosted a long-running NPR radio show; and served as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador as part of her fight against world hunger. Cherry Red Group's Robinsongs imprint has recently collected her first four American albums on a 2-CD set. When Charlie

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Dee Dee Bridgewater, Thom Bell

April 3, 2018 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

MFSB Definitive Collection

MFSB - a.k.a. Mother, Father, Sister, Brother (or a rather more off-color series of four words, depending on whom you ask) - remains one of the all-time great aggregations of studio musicians, right up there with The Funk Brothers, The Wrecking Crew, and The Nashville Cats.  The legacy of the Philadelphia International group has just been celebrated by Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint on a new 2-CD, 32-track anthology entitled The Definitive Collection. The talented, versatile musicians at the

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Gamble and Huff, MFSB, The Three Degrees, Thom Bell

July 13, 2017 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Nothing But a House Party

What is the sound of Philadelphia?  As Kent Records' exciting compilation Nothing But a House Party: The Birth of The Philly Sound 1967-1971 readily admits, there were many such sounds - the sound of teen idols Fabian and Frankie Avalon; of "South Street" and "The Mashed Potato" and Cameo-Parkway Records; of the doo-wop of The Dreamlovers, and before that, of Italian-American singers like Mario Lanza and Al Martino.  But the sound of Philadelphia referenced here is the one with capital letters -

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Archie Bell and the Drells, Gamble and Huff, Jerry Butler, The Delfonics, The Intruders, Thom Bell, Various Artists

June 8, 2017 By Joe Marchese 9 Comments

Mathis 60th 1

Johnny Mathis is currently touring the U.S. on his Voice of Romance tour - and indeed, for over 60 years, that appellation has been apt.  This Saturday evening, June 10, Mathis is coming to your own city, courtesy of Public Television and TJ Lubinsky's TJL Productions' popular and long-running My Music series.   Yes, this Saturday is Johnny Mathis Night, because that's when Public Television stations nationwide will air Wonderful! Wonderful!, a concert film featuring all of Mathis' beloved

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul Tags: Angela Bofill, Deniece Williams, Dionne Warwick, Henry Mancini, Jane Olivor, Johnny Mathis, Thom Bell, Yolanda Adams

February 3, 2017 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Lesley Gore Love Me By Name

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring Second Disc Records' first release of the year plus another incredible slate from Real Gone Music, box sets, anthologies, and more! Various Artists, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Expanded Edition) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are tipping off 2017 with the first-ever CD release of Thom Bell's soulful soundtrack to 1979's The Fish

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Folk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Black Sabbath, Delaney and Bonnie, Duke Ellington, Jim Kweskin, Judas Priest, Larry Coryell, Lesley Gore, Lynn Anderson, Soft Machine, Thom Bell, Vangelis

February 2, 2017 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh

Here at Second Disc HQ, tomorrow is the biggest day of basketball season - because tomorrow is when we're unveiling Second Disc Records' first release of the year!  Thom Bell's soulful, all-star soundtrack to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh - featuring The Spinners, The Four Tops, Loretta Lynn, Phyllis Hyman, Doc Severinsen, Eubie Blake, and more - arrives from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music for the very first time in a newly expanded, freshly remastered edition!  Trust us: this is one

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul, Soundtracks Tags: Bell and James, Doc Severinsen, Eubie Blake, Loretta Lynn, Phyllis Hyman, The Four Tops, The Spinners, The Sylvers, Thom Bell, William Hart

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